36 DATEGROWING 



ill suited to his conditions; but if he investigates 

 intelligently he may go ahead in confidence, for any 

 good, well-drained soil, even though it be slightly 

 alkaline, is adapted to most varieties of dates. 



One of the fundamental propositions of date 

 culture is that the palm requires a large supply of 

 water for irrigation. This rule is apparently subject 

 to some striking exceptions, and future experiments 

 will probably change our ideas on the subject still 

 more, though they can hardly shake the fact that the 

 palm is a water-loving plant. 



It is, indeed, astonishing to find what large 

 quantities of water the palm can take without injury. 

 The immense plantations around Busreh — the most 

 important, commercially, in the world — are ordinarily 

 irrigated, and copiously irrigated, every twelve hours 

 throughout the year, for the operation is performed 

 by the action of the Persian Gulf tide, which backs up 

 the fresh water in the Shatt al Arab. The admirably 

 managed plantations of Fardh dates in Oman usually 

 get a good irrigation once a week. Many of the 

 palms in Egypt are continuously inundated for two 

 months during the summer, and the growers never 

 worry about possible danger to the crop unless the 

 water has been on their roots for more than seventy 

 days. Certainly there are few fruit trees that could 

 survive such tests. 



It is such characteristics, and the fact that the 

 palm in the desert is only found around water holes, 

 that led poets to name it Friend of the Fountain. 

 Faqir Amin al Madani expresses the general opinion 

 when he says: "Know that no culture in the world 

 stands more water than the palm, and turn the 

 stream on it every day, remembering that every 



